P-Funk

Article by Alex 19 Apr 2012

P-Funk is a sub-genre of funk which was made by Parliament-Funkadelic and its offshoot projects.

George Clinton is the one permanent figure within the movement who as a teenager in the 1950′s set up a doo-wop band called The Parliaments. The group had their first and only hit under that name in 1967 with “I Wanna Testify” which reached the top 20 of the American charts.

After a name dispute in the late 60s Clinton was forced to change the name of his band to Funkadelic. Along with the name change he also changed their sound which became a mixture of psychedelic rock and funk similar to acts like Sly and the Family Stone.

The group’s eponymous debut album began with what could be considered a perfect introduction to their new sound with ‘Mommy, What’s A Funkadelic?’

After the release of this Clinton would regain the naming rights to The Parliaments. He took this as an opportunity to begin a second band without the rock influences of Funkadelic called Parliament, even updating the sound of his first hit “I Wanna Testify”.

During the mid 70s Clinton added the collective’s most iconic members Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins and over the next few years with the collective at its peak they would record some of the funkiest music ever.

Unfortunately by the start of the 80s many key members had left to pursue solo projects. Clinton however continued with the remaining members and recorded some of his strongest work such as ‘Atomic Dog’.